Come Little Children to the Hanging Tree
by AnimeMaiden167
Summary: Dipper was a cursed child bearing a constellation birthmark. Every child who is cursed, if found out, would immediately be killed by hanging them on the sacred hanging tree said to purify the souls of the damned. It's a witch hunt to find every person with the birthmark. Longer summary inside.


**Summary**

* * *

Dipper was a cursed child bearing a constellation birthmark. Every child who is cursed, if found out, would immediately be killed by hanging them on the sacred hanging tree said to purify the souls of the damned. It's a witch hunt to find every person with the birthmark. There was a cult in the town but it wasn't for the cursed children. It was the Cult of the All Seeing Eye, led by one William Cipher, who was married to a hidden cursed child (who was found out and killed). The cult leader seeks revenge on the killers of the cursed children offering their blood to the "hanging tree" who had witnessed all the deaths of the cursed children and grants the cult leader a boon, the soul of his lover in exchange for his immortal soul.

 **Disclaimer:** _I do not own the characters, Gravity Falls, story concept, or song on which this story was based on. This story is based on the Come Little Children Gravity Falls animatic by Lumina Xandra on youtube, who was commissioned to create the amazing animatic with this original AU concept. Thankfully the one who originally commissioned it agreed to allow me and anyone else to use their story concept to write fanfics! So thank you very much if you're reading this!_

 **Come Little Children to the Hanging Tree**

 _ **Chapter 1**_

" _Come Little Children..."_

Soft singing could be heard throughout the small, quiet village. Children of all ages started sneaking out of their homes, being careful as if not to wake any of their parents or other adults.

" _I'll take thee away into a land of enchantment..."_

The children carefully made their way towards the forest that surrounded the village following the song that was being sung by a mysterious person wearing a black cloak.

" _Come little children..."_

The mysterious person led the children down a small path until they were all gathered in a small clearing where the tallest tree of the forest resided. The man slowly turned to face the children, smiling softly at them as they all gather around him. He opened his arms out wide as if he was about to give a hug, circling them around until his fingertips touched. As he did this, the children that were gathered around him were being wrapped in his cloak until they all disappeared together.

" _The times come to play here in my garden of shadows..."_

In another part of the village, a blond haired man paced back and forth in front of his fireplace as if trying to determine what he should be doing. He stopped pacing after a moment, as if he felt a presence wrap itself around him before disappearing once more. A very familiar presence that made his heartache. Another moment passed before he finally decided to turn around and walk towards his front door. He reached his hand out towards the mantle of his fireplace, which was adorned with flowers and a partially covered memorial picture, picking up a butchers knife as he passed by. He threw on his cloak and adorned his golden mask with a wide open eye after looking back one last time at the picture on the mantle. It was time to take revenge on those who had hurt him once and for all, to finally stop all the murder that had been taking place in the village. 

The masked man walked through the village in the dead of night. He dragged behind him three strangely large sacks as he made his way into the forest towards a certain tree. The cursed tree that plagued his nightmares every night since that fateful day. He stopped once he stood before it, leaning his head back for a moment to stare up at it before finally turning around to set the stage.

He removed the sacks from the sacrifices he had brought with him, then threw each rope over one of the higher branches on the tree. He pulled them until the bodies of those who took something special away from were far enough off the ground that they were hanging in the air. If any of the three were still alive at his point after the torture he had put them through not that long prior, won't be much longer.

" _Hush now dear children, it must be this way; too weary of life and deceptions..."_

On the other side, the mysterious cloaked man led the children through a door that opened from the trunk of the tree. Each one of them passed through it after smiling and waving goodbye to the boy, thankful that they were finally able to move on and be happy. After they were all gone, the brunet turned to kneel down next to a bouquet of yellow and red roses that sat on top of a grave that lay beneath the tree. He let his hand slowly caress the petals before he picked the bouquet up and nuzzled his nose in them to inhale their sweet scent with a fond smile upon his pale, freckled face.

" _Strange things did happen here, no stranger it would be if we met at midnight in the hanging tree..."_

The blond stared up at his work for a few moments before falling down to his knees in front of a gravestone that stood tall in front of the tree. His hidden gaze was fixed upon the slab before he slumped over, his hands gripping the sides of the stone as he wept behind his mask.

The cloaked brunet stood to slowly trace his hand down an engraving that adorned the trunk of the tree. The engraving was of a heart with two names within it, William x Mason. He glanced behind him when the night finally which it's peak. Midnight. In front of his grave knelt a masked man, to which he approached trying to reach out to him as if he were really able to touch him. Even though the veil was thin, his hand still ghosted through the fabric of the blond's hood. So close, yet so far away.

The blond finally stood after a few more moments of collecting himself, startling the brunet behind him who stepped back out of reflex as the other spun around with his arms wide open. Suddenly the bodies hanging from the tree burst into blue flames that engulfed them completely. He took the knife that he brought with him and slit his wrist to allow blood to splash over a magic circle he had drawn while he had been kneeling in front of the grave. He muttered the spell that he had been memorizing since the night his love was stolen from him, spun around dramatically before removing his mask to finish chanting. After the last word was spoken, shadows started to emerge from the circle, forming hands that reached out and grabbed the blond to restrain him. The bodies of the three murderers disappeared, becoming smoke that drifted through the air before circling around the man. Before it entered his body through his eyes, it formed the face of the brunet trying to kiss him one last time.

He fell to his knees, his head slumped forward as his the soul of his lover manifested within his body. He slowly moved his gaze up to stare at the grave with one blue and one golden eye. He knew that this wasn't the end of everything just because those three were now dead. He now had a new mission to carry out. To protect those with the constellation birthmarks, the cursed children.


End file.
